Mark Price

BrainTrust Query: I Found One

December 27, 2009

FROM RETAILWIRE:
In a recent post, BrainTrust panelist Bill Emerson asked the question, "Where are the Merchants?" He's happy to report that he found one.... How do the merchandising skills of the department stores of yore translate to modern-day retailing? What adjustments must be made?      [more...]

Understanding customers, particularly Best Customers, is a critical part of retail marketing that I often find overlooked by merchants. Much of the time, I find them selecting products and advocating for marketing strategies to target people like themselves, when customer behavior has "moved on" some time ago.

People are more time-challenged, more scared of the economy, more fragmented in family relationships and more digital than ever before. Merchants who want to market to an old-fashioned customer in an old-fashioned way will find themselves outmoded and outflanked by competition. In addition, the brand runs the risk of being viewed as "out of touch" with their customers. And "out of touch" means "out of mind" which translated to out of the pocketbook. Which, by the way, also means...out of business.